AKRON (June 22, 2001) — Goodyear has nearly completed the dissolution of its Brad Ragan/Carolina Tire network, having closed 37 stores and sold or having sales pending on 42 others. Goodyear converted only six of the 85 Brad Ragan/Carolina Tire stores it operated at the beginning of the year to Goodyear Auto Service Centers, a company spokesman said.
Among the buyers of the stores are Black's Tire Service of Whiteville, N.C., Bubba's Tire Center of Dublin, Ga., and Jennings Tire Co. of Murfreesboro, Tenn. Each of these Goodyear dealers bought more than one location, the spokesman said.
Goodyear decided to phase out the Brad Ragan and Carolina Tire names earlier this after management determined the stores' home- and-auto format—which still included selling appliances and other non-automotive products—no longer was viable. The stores in question are in North and South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia.
Goodyear declined to comment on the sale proceeds or costs of closing and converting the other stores.